Get off of your butts, home buyers!

If you’re doing this instead of house hunting, you’re the reason Texas builders remain stressed out. Thanks a lot.

The latest Beige Book from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas was released this afternoon, with a mixed outlook on the construction and real estate market.

While home builders are reporting a slight upswing in sales, with most of the demand in the entry-level market, builders are concerned about the looming deadline for the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit.

Basically, buyers need to get off of their butts and sign a contract. (My words, not the Fed’s). To qualify for the credit, you have to close on a home before December. But buyers have just started coming off the sidelines, the Fed reports

Also stressing out home builders: demand remains below last year’s levels, with the high-end market the weakest.

Meanwhile, commercial leasing continues to soften, although Texas is still in better shape than the rest of the country.

As for sales transactions for commercial real estate properties, what sales transactions? The Beige Book reports that they are “almost nonexistent.”

“According to respondents, the re-pricing of properties will be painful but necessary.”